The Path To Forever
by BellaLeigh1
Summary: What if Klaus didn't give up on Elijah and made him come home? What if Hayley didn't die? Could they have gotten their happily ever after despite everything? An Alternate History that rewrites everything from 5x03 on.
1. I Can't Do This Alone

_**Klaus goes to bring Elijah home to get help finding Hayley. But, what is he going to do when the man who used to be his brother doesn't want to go?**_

**~The Path To Forever~**

He stood in the corner and watched her. The woman that the man who used to be his brother thought he wanted to marry. Watched as she searched through the coolers, looking for the bottle he was holding. The champagne she intended to celebrate her engagement with. Though, if he had anything to say about it, there wouldn't be an engagement to celebrate. As much as he wanted Elijah to be happy, he would be damned if he would stand back and watch him throw forever away on any woman that wasn't Hayley. Because he still had hopes that one day Freya or Hope would get rid of the Hollow and Marcel would give him his brother back.

Or, at least, that had been the hope for the past seven years. Until Hayley disappeared, and Hope became frantic enough to risk everything to get her back. Now, things had changed. Now they needed Elijah back, whether he was ready to come back or not. It was selfish, he knew that. He was dragging his brother back to a life where he still couldn't be near his siblings, still couldn't have a real life with the woman he loved. But, Klaus needed him. He couldn't do this alone. And if anything happened to Hayley… If anything happened to Hayley, then they would lose Elijah permanently. No matter what happened with the Hollow after that wouldn't matter. Because to get Elijah back after that would be to shatter his mind more than it already was. And he wouldn't let anybody put him through that.

But first, Antoinette needed to be dealt with. And, as much fun as it could be to just rip her heart out and be done with it, perhaps a less… Klaus-like approach would do this time. "Looking for this?" He held up the bottle as she turned around. The look she gave him was satisfyingly terrified. He looked at the bottle in his hand. "1928 Clos Du Monet. Hmm. Pricey." He smirked as he let go of the bottle to let it shatter on the ground at his feet. "Do you know who I am?" She should. They had met before. But, perhaps she had forgotten him.

"Someone who's about to regret his hideous timing." He had to hand it to her, she was brave. Or perhaps stupid. She took a couple steps towards him.

He vamp-sped to her, grabbed her by the throat, and pinned her to the cooler doors. "You've spent a handful of years with Elijah. You've treated him well. You've taken good care of him. I suppose I should be thanking you. But, alas, all good things come to an end. I'm afraid your services are no longer required. You see… I'm taking my brother home tonight." He looked her in the eyes and let the power of his gaze wash over her. "You're done with Elijah. You're going to reject his proposal, and then you're going to exit this bar and my brother's life… forever. Do you understand?"

"I understand."

He smiled, then. Yes, he had just broken Elijah's heart. But, by this time tomorrow, that would hardly matter. Because once Marcel gave him his memories back, whatever he felt for Antoinette would pale in comparison to his love for Hayley. The man sitting at that piano would be heartbroken, but his brother would thank him for saving him from making the biggest mistake of his life. He watched Antoinette walk out of the kitchen, and he waited for his chance to deal with his brother.

And then the bar was empty. Only Elijah sat, still at the piano. Probably stunned at what had just happened. Klaus walked out. "Your name is Elijah Mikaelson. You may not remember yourself or your family, but we need your help. Our family is in crisis. I've come to take you back to New Orleans."

If he was expecting a response, he was sadly disappointed. His brother's only reaction was to start playing the piano, again. Perhaps Elijah was just in shock? "Say something, brother."

Elijah stopped playing at that and shook his head. "I'm not your brother."

"You are. And your family needs you home."

"This is my home."

He didn't have time for this. With every passing minute the chance of saving Hayley slipped further and further away. And they still had to fly across an ocean, and get Marcel to undo what he did so that Elijah would care, again. "This is not a request. You will return with me, willingly or otherwise." Because there was a dagger with Elijah's name on it in Klaus's pocket. Compulsion certainly had its uses, and getting airport security to ignore him bringing that dagger onto the plane was only one of them.

Elijah stood up and walked around the piano, then. "It's gonna have to be otherwise."

And then there was a flash of lightning, and a roll of thunder. And the power went out. Klaus looked up at that. Shit! He had a feeling this wasn't a normal storm. He wondered how long they had before the voices started, again. Because his day wasn't bad enough, yet. "We made a vow. Always and forever."

"You're talking about somebody else's life."

"No, this is still your life!" He was shouting. He didn't care. They were running out of time. For Hayley. Before the Hollow started messing with them. And right now, he was feeling more than a bit homicidal. He didn't know how much was his own werewolf temper, and how much was that _thing_ living inside him. "You have responsibilities! You cannot just abandon them for a fairy tale, playing piano in the French countryside!"

Elijah walked towards him, then. Kicking something out of his way hard enough to break it. "You think I'm just gonna stand by and watch as you destroy everything that I've built here?" He was shouting, too. Perfect.

Klaus pulled himself up to his full height. "Do you honestly think you have a choice?" He grabbed Elijah's head, intending to snap his neck, to buy himself time.

He wasn't expecting Elijah to fight back so well. The next thing he knew, he was flying through the air to crash into a table. There was the sound of breaking glass as whatever had been on that table fell off, and then Klaus was laying on the floor surrounded by that broken glass. Broken glass and something else. Were those maggots? Wonderful. Now they weren't just dealing with weird weather, they had other not so fun things happening, too. He needed to get this over with. He pulled himself to his feet. "You have no idea the risk I'm taking, simply by being here! There are consequences to us being together! Don't you see?" He waved his hand at the maggots on the floor.

"So leave!" Didn't he understand? Didn't he get that Klaus wouldn't take this risk if it wasn't important? No, he didn't know him, but still. That anger, that rage, was coming from somewhere. Didn't he feel it? Couldn't he hear it whispering to him? How did he not understand that there was something bigger going on?

"I would never have come if the circumstances weren't dire."

"I don't care. Your reasons don't matter to me."

"You once convinced me that Hayley's life was worth saving, that my daughter's life was worth saving. Please, Elijah. Hayley is missing." And if there was even a scrap of Elijah Mikaelson still in there, _that _would get his attention. "Hayley. Even in your addled state, that name must mean something to you!" He was going to cry. Him. Klaus Mikaelson. On the verge of tears. And he didn't know if he was crying for Hayley, for his brother, or both.

Elijah walked towards him. Or rather, this stranger that was wearing Elijah's skin did. "No more than the name Mikaelson."

That did it. Klaus picked him up and slammed him onto a table. "We are your family! You love us. You love me." Didn't he? Or had everything Elijah had done to try to save Klaus from himself been motivated, not by love, but by guilt and a sense of responsibility? Was it never anything more than atonement?

And then he screamed as something was slammed into his back. A stake. Well, that was inconvenient. Though, thankfully nothing more than an inconvenience. He reached around and pulled it out, then stood up and followed them.

He found them as Antoinette was explaining to Elijah that he can't die, and the stake… "Was quite an inconvenience." He held up his arm to show them the stake, and then let go, letting it clatter to the floor. "Unless you'd like me to return the favor, love, I suggest you run along."

Antoinette said nothing. It was Elijah that responded. "I'm not going anywhere with you."

Maybe it was time to change tactics. He put his hands together as if he was praying. In a way, he was. "I'm begging you, brother. You may not think you know me. Or Rebekah, or Kol, or Freya, or Hope, or even Hayley. But we are your family." He walked closer to his brother. "Everyone you love needs you now. Please, Elijah."

"Everyone I love is right here." Elijah reached up and put his hand on top of Antoinette's, his meaning quite clear.

He could hear whispering, now. Faint, but there. How long did he have? How long before it suddenly started to seem like a good idea to collect Rebekah and Kol before going back to New Orleans? At this point, if Elijah had agreed, it would have worried him. "Forgive me, brother." He whispered. And then he vamp-sped the few feet between them, and slammed the dagger into Elijah's chest.

He caught him as he fell, and then turned his attention to Antoinette. "Now then, what to do about you? Killing you hardly seems like a fair way to repay you for keeping him safe and mostly sane for the past seven years. And yet, I can hardly turn my back on you, lest I need to worry about another stake." He laid Elijah gently on the ground. "So, I suppose a compromise is in order."

She had been backing away from him while he talked, and managed to back up to the wall. He smiled. And then he reached up and snapped her neck. Well, that was one problem down. As he carried his brother out to the waiting hearse behind the bar and put him in the coffin, he considered his other problem. Because the bigger issue was the weather, and the voices, and those damn maggots. At this point, he didn't trust a plane to actually make it to New Orleans if they were both on it.

He drove to the airport in Marseilles and compelled Elijah's coffin onto the first flight to New Orleans. Even got it added to the manifest so that nobody would question it at the other end. Once that was taken care of, he called Marcel. "I'm sending you a present. You'll need to go to New Orleans to get it. It's a little broken at the moment, though. I'm going to need you and either Freya or Vincent to fix it for me."

"Have you lost your mind, Klaus? You're sending Elijah to New Orleans?"

"I don't know if you've heard, but Hayley is missing. I need Elijah to help me find her. Please, Marcel. Hope has already lost me. She can't lose her mother, too."

"I don't quite know what you hope to accomplish by getting Elijah's help, but, knowing you it's already too late to talk you out of it. So, yeah. I'll go pick him up and give him his memories back. And hopefully the two of you won't burn New Orleans down or something."

"Thank you." He ended the call and then compelled his way onto another plane. This one had a layover, but it was still faster than waiting for the next direct flight. In twenty hours, he and Elijah would both be back. He just prayed that they wouldn't already be too late.


	2. A Thousand Years

_Elijah wakes up in New Orleans and is given his memories back. But, is his sanity up to having a thousand years' worth of memories thrown at him at once?_

**~The Path To Forever~**

He woke up in a coffin. He sat up. "Where the Hell am I?"

"You're in New Orleans. Because your brother is an idiot who apparently doesn't care if the world burns."

"Enough, Marcel. Klaus isn't thinking clearly. And, from what I understand, Elijah has always been the one he turned to when he needed help. A thousand years of habit is hard to break."

"Yeah. But, what in the world does he think Elijah can do?"

"Who knows? But, he's here. So, let's give him his memories back. The sooner we find Hayley, the sooner Klaus will calm down and realize that he's an idiot. And the sooner Klaus and Elijah can once again go their separate ways. Hopefully before things start going horribly wrong." The woman held her hand out to him. "Come on, little brother. Let's get you the rest of the way back."

He shook his head. "I'm not your brother. And all I want, right now, is to go home to my fiancee."

The woman looked stricken. "Fiancee?" She looked at the man she had called Marcel. "Did you know about this?"

"No. All Klaus told me was that he was sending me a present, but it was a little broken and he needed the two of us to fix it for him."

"Well, this could get interesting." She looked at Elijah. "Look, the sooner you let us do what we need to do so you can help our brother find his daughter's mother, the sooner we can get you back to that fiancee of yours. Okay? We need your help, Elijah. Neither Hope or I can find her by scrying. I honestly don't know what Klaus thinks you can do. But… even if all you can do is keep him from going even more off the deep end than he already is… Well… that is something that only you can do."

"So, I help talk your brother down, help him find this woman, and then I can go back to Manosque?" It seemed too simple. There had to be some kind of catch. There was no way they were really going to just let him go home after everything they went through to get him there.

She nodded. "Yeah. If you still want to go back to Manosque once we've found Hayley, nobody will stop you. Not even Klaus."

Marcel snorted. "Yeah. Because if he still wants to go back after he remembers Hayley, there's really no point in keeping him here."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You'll find out, soon. Come on."

He climbed out of the coffin then, and sat on the chair they directed him to. And then the woman started chanting. After a few minutes, Marcel looked him in the eyes and started talking. "Remember, Elijah. Remember your family. Remember always and forever. Remember Hayley. Open the door in your mind where you hide the worst parts of yourself, and let it all come back."

And then he was in a corridor. A long white corridor lined with white doors. At the end of the hallway there was another door. A different one. This one was red, battered and old-looking. Something was drawing him to that door. Apparently that was the door that he was being told to open. But, there was something on the other side of it. Something he wasn't sure he wanted to face.

A voice came from behind the door. A woman's voice. "Elijah, stop!" Something inside him knew that voice. And knew that remembering how he knew it was going to hurt. He didn't want to open that door. He had shoved everything in there for a reason.

But, he didn't have a choice. Some force that was stronger than his own will was pushing him towards that door. Towards whatever was on the other side of that door. He took a deep breath. And then he opened the door.

And got hit by a tidal wave of memories and emotions. A thousand years worth. It was too much. He felt like his head was going to explode. Or like he was drowning. He searched his mind for an anchor, a liferaft. Something he could cling to while trying to process this. And he found her. Hayley. The woman he had loved from the moment he had laid eyes on her.

Images flashed through his mind. Almost too quickly to register. But, while his mind couldn't process all of them just yet, his heart welcomed them. Seeing her for the first time. Their first kiss. Making love to her. And smaller things. Simple things. Dancing with her at a party. The soft smile he would sometimes catch her giving him. Knowing that his own expression mirrored it.

How could he have forgotten her? How could even Marcel have erased her, not just from his mind, but from his heart? How could anything have erased the love he had felt for her, still felt for her? But, no. He had seen her again. Five years ago. He had been drawn to her in a way he hadn't understood at the time. But, he did now. His mind hadn't known her. But his heart… his heart had recognized its other half.

There were other memories, too. Not all of them were pleasant. There was pain there, too. Horrible things they had both said and done to each other. Things that maybe they would never be able to come back from. The reason he had left the way he did. But, he pulled his memories of her to himself, and clung to them.

And then he was able to pick other memories out. His siblings. Niklaus, Rebekah, Kol, Freya. The vow he, Niklaus, and Rebekah had made to each other a thousand years ago. Always and forever. Oh, things hadn't always been good between them, either. But, they were a thousand years old. And for a thousand years, they only had each other. Of course there would sometimes be anger and resentment. But, even at their worst moments it had always been tempered by love.

And then other things. Other people. A baby. Hope. The first time Niklaus and Hayley had seen her after months of her being hidden away. Bringing Hope to see Hayley every month on the full moon. Watching her first steps, hearing her first words.

Marcellus. The little boy Niklaus had connected with, bonding over their shared experience of having fathers who hated them. And who grew up to become the man Rebekah loved.

Camille. The brave little bartender who got sucked into a world beyond human comprehension and yet held her own. One of the few people who could stand her ground against Niklaus at his worst. She had paid for her loyalty to his family with her life. And yet, the effect she had had on his brother was second only to little Hope.

Davina. The little witch who had finally tamed Kol. She had done more to make him feel loved and worthy than even his own siblings had. Someday, Elijah needed to make amends to both of them. But, for now, it was enough to know that they were there.

And then, surrounded by his family, he forced himself to face the rest. The reason that door had existed in the first place. A thousand years of being a monster, hiding behind an immaculate suit. The people he had killed. Too many over the centuries to count. But, there were two that were harder to watch than the others. Tatia. And Marcellus.

At some point while remembering he had closed his eyes. He opened them now, looked into the eyes of the man whose heart he had once ripped out. "I'm so sorry, Marcellus. I am so, so sorry. I… I can't remember if I ever apologized. I… I was running scared. If it had just been about me… But it wasn't. I couldn't watch Niklaus and Rebekah die. And I couldn't take the chance that what was coming was going to hurt Hayley or Hope. I'm sorry." It wasn't enough. Wasn't nearly enough. They were going to have to sit down and talk about it. He knew that, and was not looking forward to it.

But then there were arms around him. "I know. I know, Elijah. I don't know if I'll ever fully forgive you, but I understand. I love them, too. If the situation was reversed I probably would have done the same thing."

He couldn't stop crying. There was too much. A thousand years was more than the human mind had been designed to deal with to begin with. Having all of it thrown at him at once was more than he could process. It was all too much.

But then one thing bobbed to the surface of his mind. A memory, not of Elijah Mikaelson, but of Elijah Smith. "Hayley is missing." No. Please God, no.

"Hayley. Where is Hayley?"

"We don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know? You're a witch. You're a first born Mikaelson witch. Scry for her. There has to be something you can do." He wasn't being fair. He knew that. But he couldn't help it. If he didn't embrace the anger, he would be overwhelmed by fear and grief. Anger would fuel him, give him the energy to do his part to get Hayley back. Fear and grief would shut him down. He didn't have time for fear and grief, right now.

"Scry for her. Why didn't Hope or I think of that? I'm so glad that you're home to make sure we do the absolute minimum to find my best friend and Hope's mother."

"Freya, chill. Can't you see that he's a wreck?"

"I'm sorry, Freya. I just… I just had a thousand years worth of memories thrown at me. Including shattering the woman I love's heart into a million pieces. And one of the last things I remember before waking up here is being told that she's missing. So, forgive me for being a bit frazzled, right now."

"Yeah. I'm sorry, too. You aren't the only one who is a wreck. Let's face it, Klaus was worried enough to risk everything to go get you. We're all spread really thin and getting ready to snap. But… That doesn't give us the right to snap on each other. Right now, we're all we have. Welcome home, little brother."

Elijah stood up and took his sister into his arms. "I'm sorry. I am so sorry."

She pulled away and wiped at her eyes. "There's time for that later. Right now, we need to find Hayley. I have no idea what Klaus's plan is. I honestly don't know if Klaus knows what Klaus's plan is. I think he was hoping you would have one."

"Unfortunately, right now, I don't. You heard me. All I can think of is the obvious, bare minimum."

"And me, Hope, and half the witches in Caroline's school are already on that. We're trying, Elijah. I promise you that. We are trying."

"I know. But, I can't help you with that part. So, I guess it's time for me to find out why I'm home." But, he noticed Freya exchanging a look with Marcel that chilled him to the bone. "What aren't you telling me?"

Freya took a shuddering breath. "A box came, while Klaus was gone getting you. Brought by a messenger that killed himself as soon as the box was put in my hands."

He wasn't going to like this. He knew that. But, he had to hear it. "What was in the box?"

She took his hand. "Come on. It would be easier if I show you." And she led him up the stairs and into the living room. She pointed at the small box on the table, but didn't say anything.

Elijah picked up the box with trembling hands and opened it. His heart clenched and his stomach churned as he saw what was inside. It was a piece of skin. Small, but recognizable. The birthmark he had told Hayley so many times to keep covered. Until she had found her people and that mark became a badge of honor. Technically, it could have belonged to any member of Hayley's pack. But, he wasn't naive enough to really believe that. Whoever had taken Hayley had mutilated her to send a message. He brushed his finger over the patch of skin. "I am so sorry, my love", he whispered. He looked up at Freya. "Does Niklaus know about this?"

Freya nodded. "He hasn't seen it, because he's been staying away from you. But I couldn't not tell him."

"Right. Well, I should probably call him and see what his plan is." He reached for his phone, and then realized that he wouldn't have Klaus's number programmed in it, and didn't have it memorized. "Except I don't actually know how to reach him."

Freya actually laughed, though the laughter didn't quite reach her eyes. and took his phone out of his hand and dialed for him before handing it back. "Here you go. After you talk to him, I'll program my number into it, too. And give you Rebekah's and Kol's."

"And mine."

He opened his mouth to apologize, for what, he wasn't really sure, but then there was a voice on his phone. "Hello?"

"Niklaus. Tell me you have a plan, brother."

"I'm with Caroline. Hope has run off with another student on her own rescue mission. Since scrying isn't working, we're trying a more modern method to at least find Hope, and having their cell phones traced. It's best if you and I don't spend too much time together. But, I promise you that once I have any information, I will bring you in on this, too. The Hollow be damned."

"Keep me and Freya informed. I'm going to see if there is anything I can do from here."

"All right. Well, if you get any ideas…"

"I'll call you."

"Good. Talk to you soon. And Elijah? Welcome back."

Elijah ended the call and then looked at his sister. "Okay. Since scrying isn't working, we need to go to more human ways of tracking people. Niklaus and Caroline are tracing Hope's cell phone. Has anybody seen if the wolves can help at all?"

"Unfortunately, Keelin is out of the country. So, our best liaisons with them would have been Hayley or Hope."

"Perfect. Well, I guess I should see if any of them will talk to me. For her sake." He ran a hand over his eyes. "Niklaus will keep us both informed on his and Caroline's progress. I… I don't know what to do. There have only been two times in my entire very long life that I have ever been this frightened, and felt this helpless. And both of those times were when I thought that Hayley was dead or dying. I can't go through that again, Freya. I can't."

"I know. I know. We'll find her. We'll get her back. It's going to be okay. We have to believe that. It's going to be okay."

He took a shuddering breath, and then nodded. "I'm going to go for a walk. See if I can think of something useful I can do while I'm waiting for Niklaus and Caroline to have news for me." And then he turned and walked out the door. He didn't need his sister, right now. He needed the one person that wasn't there. He needed Hayley.


	3. Goodbye, Little Wolf

Klaus and Elijah find Hayley, but not before her werewolf side gets bound. Hayley and Elijah talk, but a misunderstanding on Elijah's part drives a wedge between them that he's not ready to deal with just yet.

**~The Path To Forever~**

Time stopped having any meaning for him. He had no idea how long he spent wandering the city, hoping that something would stand out to him, trigger something that might give him a clue as to where Hayley could be. At one point, Niklaus called to tell him that they had found Hope's phone, on the side of the road. Apparently, she had realized that when scrying didn't work, they would try tracing the phone. And she didn't want to be found. He scoffed. The girl was certainly a Mikaelson. That could not be denied. It was a few hours later when the call he was waiting for came.

"Caroline just got a call from the school. The cloaking spell on Hayley just broke. I'm texting you the coordinates. Meet me there. We found her, brother. We found her."

A minute later, his phone beeped, telling him he had a text message. He looked at it and then started running. It was an old abandoned farmhouse far outside of the city. There was nothing there to set it apart from any other farmhouse in the world. Except for just how remote it was.

He met Niklaus and Caroline on the porch. "Miss Forbes."

"It's Mrs Salvatore, actually." She smiled. "Though, you can just call me Caroline. Welcome back, Elijah."

"Do we know why and how the cloaking spell broke?"

"No idea. I'm not sure I like it, to be honest. Hope didn't break it. Because the one on her and Roman is still up."

Niklaus shook his head. "Well, plenty of time for speculation after we get Hayley back. Caroline, I want you to stay out here, for now." When she looked ready to protest, he cut her off. "Don't make me compel you. I need somebody watching our backs, and somebody I can trust to look after Hope once I get her out of there. Please, Caroline?" She nodded and he looked at Elijah. "Are you ready for this, brother?"

Elijah nodded at his brother, and they walked into the house together. The sight in front of him chilled Elijah to the bone. Hope was passed out in Roman's arms, and Hayley… his beautiful Hayley was pinned to the wall.

"Elijah…"

Unfortunately, Greta took advantage of Hayley's moment of distraction to plunge her hand into her chest. This just got a lot more complicated.

Elijah didn't think. He just vamp-sped to them, and snapped Greta's neck. Then immediately wrapped one arm around her waist and grabbed the wrist that had been plunged into Hayley's chest with his other hand. Holding her still to keep Hayley safe. "A little help here, Niklaus!"

"I'm supposed to be the one who acts without thinking. You are supposed to be our voice of reason."

"Can the brotherly banter wait until after this bitch's hand is out of my chest, please?"

Elijah had to smile at that. He had always loved Hayley's snark. Even when it was directed at him. She fit in with the rest of the family so well.

Then Niklaus was there, his hands on Hayley's shoulders. Elijah locked eyes with Hayley. "I'm going to need you to move forward a bit, give him room behind you. We're going to go slow, because we need to stay in sync. If her hand moves…" He tried not to think of what could still happen. "You ready?" When she nodded, he lifted a foot. "And step. Step." One agonizingly tiny step at a time. It seemed to take forever before Niklaus finally slipped behind Hayley and put his arms around her waist.

Elijah shifted his focus from Hayley's eyes to his brother's. "We can't do this with them standing. Help me lower them to the floor." Niklaus nodded. And then, eyes locked on each other, they slowly lowered themselves until they were kneeling on the floor, taking the women with them. And then just as slowly lowered them sideways until they were laying on the floor, with Hayley on her back, and Greta on her side. Elijah holding her in position.

Niklaus took a shuddering breath. "Now for the hard part. I'm sorry love. This is going to hurt. Elijah. Are you ready?"

Elijah nodded and locked his wrist, elbow, and shoulder, holding Greta's arm so that it wouldn't shift. And watched as his brother stuck his hand in Hayley's chest. It was nerve-wracking, watching this, hearing Hayley's cries of pain. He didn't even have a free hand to hold Hayley's hand with, because he had to keep Greta still. And it had to be slow going. Niklaus could only move one finger at a time, or risk damaging Hayley's heart more.

Finally, Niklaus nodded at him. "Now."

Elijah pulled and separated the women. He looked at Hayley and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her nod. And then he looked down at the unconscious woman in his arms. Ripping her heart out was too good for her, it was too quick. He grabbed her other hand and ripped her finger sporting her daylight ring off.

"Wait. Let me get Hayley to safety first."

Elijah didn't know what his brother meant by that, but he nodded at him and watched as Niklaus carried Hayley into the other room. And then he opened the front door and tossed Greta onto the porch. And watched in satisfaction as she burst into flames.

"Jesus, Elijah! Warn a girl before you do that!"

"Sorry, Caroline. Not exactly thinking clearly, right now. You can come in, now."

He walked into the other room where Roman was still cradling Hope. And Niklaus was holding onto Hayley. "Are they okay?"

"I think Hope will be okay. My mother had some kind of sleeping powder that she knocked her out with. But, it'll wear off."

"And Hayley is a vampire. Her heart is intact. The rest will heal. Mostly." Elijah wanted to ask what that meant, but Niklaus's attention had already turned to Caroline. "Caroline, can you please take Hope and Roman both back to school? Keep them separate until somebody can find out just how much Roman was actually involved in this."

"Of course." She took Hope from Roman and ran out of the house. Roman followed her, leaving the Mikaelsons alone with Hayley.

Who gave Elijah a sad smile, before turning to Niklaus. "I guess you figured it out, huh? It looks like I'm not your little wolf, anymore."

And then it clicked. Hayley's werewolf side had been bound. She wasn't a hybrid, anymore. And he couldn't help but wonder. If he had gotten to New Orleans sooner, if all it had taken to get him home was a phone call. If his brother didn't have to waste an entire day, flying to France and then arguing with him. If he hadn't had his memories erased, would they have found her sooner? Would she still be a wolf?

"You'll always be my little wolf, Hayley. Always and forever."

Elijah's heart clenched at that. But, before he could say or do anything, Niklaus kissed Hayley's temple and then stood up. He walked back into the front room, and bent down to pick up Greta's daylight ring. "I'm going to take this to Freya, to see if she can get it respelled for Hayley. Which will give the two of you a chance to talk. Hayley, I won't leave town without seeing you again. And Elijah… call me, okay? Don't leave us again. I… we all need you too much." And then he was gone.

Which left Elijah alone with Hayley. Who he had no idea what he was supposed to say to. He had no idea where to even begin to apologize for all the ways he had hurt her. What he wanted to do was put his arms around her and kiss her. But, he didn't have that right. Not anymore. He had left her. And she wasn't his, anymore.

Because three phrases kept chasing themselves around in circles inside his head. "Your little wolf". "My little wolf". "Always and forever". He had abandoned them. Abandoned both of them. And it wasn't fair to them to try to make everything go back to the way it used to be.

"Are you going to talk to me, or just sit there and stare until your sister gets here?"

"I'm sorry. I've had a very rough couple of days."

She laughed at that. "I can imagine. Elijah, I…"

"Shh… You don't need to say anything. It's okay. I understand." Because he wasn't ready to hear the words. He wasn't ready to have Hayley tell him that he was too late. That he had broken her heart one too many times.

"I don't know what it is you think you understand, but okay. We can talk later. Hope is going back to school, so once I finish talking to Klaus and send him home, there's no reason you can't come to New Orleans. We can talk then."

He didn't say anything. But, he knew that he wouldn't be going back to New Orleans. It was over, and he needed to accept that. But, the last thing he wanted was to have to listen to her saying the words.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, he decided that while there were things he wasn't ready to hear—things they weren't ready to say to each other—there were other things that they _could_ talk about. "Hope is beautiful. She looks so much like you."

Hayley smiled. "Oh, there is definitely quite a bit of Klaus in her, too. But, yeah. Caroline jokes around sometimes about never mind putting the fear of God in boys' heads, she's going to have to start putting the fear of Klaus Mikaelson in their heads."

He laughed at that. "Yes, I don't know that even God Himself is more terrifying than my little brother when he's on a rampage. God! She's what? Fifteen? That seems so strange to me."

"Honestly, it's a little strange to me, too, and I watched it happen. But, sometimes, I look at her, and I still see my baby. I have trouble wrapping my head around the idea that my baby isn't really a baby, anymore. I can only imagine what it must be like for you and Klaus."

"Well, obviously it's different for him. But, for me it's like I blinked, and that little girl I once…" He trailed off, not wanting to remind Hayley of the plans they had once made together, his dream of becoming Hope's stepfather and helping to raise her. "She's a young woman, now. I mean, not completely grown up, not by today's standards. But close enough that it hardly matters. And I missed all of it." He brushed at the tears escaping from his eyes. "I didn't even get to watch her grow up in phone calls, and pictures. Because I threw everything away. And I don't think I realized…"

She stood up and walked over to him, taking him into her arms. He clung to her while he cried over everything he had lost. "Shh… It's okay. You're here, now. You're here now, and it's going to be okay."

Except it wasn't going to be okay, not really. He could get the rest of his family back, assuming they ever forgave him for abandoning them. But, Hayley was gone. And he could hardly blame her. He had been selfish, so caught up in his own pain, that he didn't stop to consider that he would be hurting them. He couldn't imagine what it had been like for Marcel to tell his baby sister that he had left them. That there weren't going to be any phone calls, or letters from him, because he didn't know who they were.

Much less what it had been like for whoever drew the short straw and had to tell Hayley. "I can't ask you to forgive me. What I did was unforgivable. But, I am sorry for hurting you. I…" He needed to change the subject. And get her back to her own side of the room before he did something he would regret. "I'm okay. Or at least I will be." He reached up and unwrapped her arms from around him. "Really, Hayley, I'm fine."

She looked hurt, but she moved back over to where she had been sitting before, and sat back down. "But, yeah. She's fifteen. Learning how to drive, which is the scariest thing in the world, to me. Caroline laughs at me about it. Hope could control the damn car from the backseat if she wanted to. So, why her learning how to drive should scare me is anybody's guess."

He shrugged. "Because it's normal. She's an extremely powerful witch. She's going to be a werewolf, someday. Eventually she'll be a vampire. And any one of those things is objectively a lot more frightening than letting her behind the wheel of a car. But, learning to drive is such a normal thing, that when you think about it, you get to be a normal mother of a teenager, with normal concerns. It makes a kind of sense. Add in that you can't control any of the rest of it, but you have some control over that, and of course that's going to be the thing you let yourself get worried about."

"I've missed this. Talking to you. I've missed you."

"I'm sorry. There really are no words for how sorry I am." But, he wasn't really ready for that conversation, either. "So, I know what Niklaus has been up to while I was gone." She started at that, and opened her mouth to say something. But he still wasn't ready to hear it. He didn't want her explanations. Not yet. Maybe not ever. "But, what about the others? Have Marcel, Keelin, and Davina made honest men and women out of them, yet?"

"Kol and Davina are married. Got married shortly after you all scattered. Marcel was there. Marcel and Rebekah were together for a while. Until he proposed. Told her not to answer him right away, but if her answer was yes to meet him at the courthouse on a certain day and time."

"And she didn't go."

"Oh. She went. She at least gave him the courtesy of turning him down to his face and not just standing him up."

He closed his eyes. "I am definitely going to have to have a talk with that girl, soon. Find out what the heck she was thinking. I would say that I hope that he can forgive her, but… it's Marcel and Rebekah. They've been on and off for two hundred years, and somehow keep finding their way back to each other. They'll get through this, too."

"I hope so. I really do. I so want them to be happy. She won't tell me what her problem is. Won't even tell Freya. But, maybe she'll tell you. After all, you were the one who was there for her and with her for a thousand years. She might be more willing to talk to you than to the rest of us."

"And Freya?"

She shrugged. "Freya is… a Mikaelson. And an oldest child. Weight of the world on her shoulders. Between doing her part to keep New Orleans from imploding, and trying to figure out a way to get her family back, she hasn't really given herself a chance to even think about what she might want for herself. I think she loves Keelin. I think they'd be very happy together, if she would just… stop being a firstborn Mikaelson for five minutes and let herself just be a person in her own right."

"So, you're saying that I need to have a little chat with _both_ of my sisters about their love lives, huh? I guess it's far past time that I took the mantle of Mikaelson family patriarch back up. I've shirked my duties to all of them long enough."

She looked down for a minute, and when she lifted her head to look at him again, she was looking very pensive. "Elijah, there's something I need to tell you."

He shook his head. "Don't. Please, Hayley. Just don't. It's okay. Really. I understand. You don't… you don't have to say anything."

"You know, I can't help thinking that you and I are having two different conversations, here."

Before Elijah could get up the courage to ask her what she meant by that, the outside door opened and he heard Freya calling them from the other room. "Elijah? Hayley? I have Hayley's Daylight Ring, here."

He stuck his head through the doorway. "We're in here, Freya. Keeping Hayley out of the way of the windows, and the door."

Freya walked over to Hayley and handed her the ring. "Here. This one is temporary. We'll get you a setting that's more your style to put the stone in later. But, this will get you home, and keep you safe until then."

"Thanks, Freya." She put the ring on and just stared at it.

Elijah's heart clenched. That was the other thing they avoided talking about. Just what they were sitting here waiting for, and why it was necessary. The fact that Hayley was no longer a hybrid. She had hated being turned into a hybrid because she had missed the 'nobility of being a wolf'. But, at least then, she had still been a wolf. And once she had learned to reconcile both sides of herself she had been formidable. And now she had lost that. Because of him. Because it took so long to get him.

He stood up and walked over to her, bent down, and kissed her on the cheek. "I guess I should get going. Be happy, Hayley. Be happy, and have the life you deserve." He turned to Freya and took her into his arms. "I'm sorry for what I did. For just walking away like that. It won't happen again. I'll call you once I get back to France, let you know how to contact me. And I'll do the same for the others. I love you."

He had to get out of there before being so close to Hayley and not having her in his arms made him go mad. Made him say something he shouldn't, something she didn't want to hear. She had moved on, and he had to let her. So, one more glance at Hayley to make sure her new ring was firmly on her finger, and then he opened the door and walked out.

Once the door was closed behind him, he ran at full vamp-speed. He wasn't even sure what direction he was going. He just needed to get far away. He eventually stopped, crumpled to the ground, and cried. She was gone. If it had been anyone but Niklaus, he might have stayed, fought for her. But his brother deserved to finally have someone choose him. But, damn was it hard. Knowing that the thing that made the two people he loved the most happy was the very thing that shattered his own heart into a million pieces. But, he had done this to himself. If he hadn't left her the way he did… He had done this to himself.

**~The Path To Forever~**

Hayley watched Elijah walk out the door, and then slid to the ground. It was over. It was really over. She had lost him. Until this moment, she had been able to fool herself. Been able to convince herself that once Freya and Hope figured out a way to deal with the Hollow and Marcel brought Elijah home, they would be able to fix things. They would be able to sit down and have the talk they hadn't had time for. She would have a chance to apologize for hurting him. They would find their way back to each other. It had been a beautiful fairy tale.

But, now she knew. It was just a fairy tale. She looked up at Freya. "That was Elijah. That wasn't some stranger wearing Elijah's skin. That was Elijah. He's back."

Freya nodded. "Klaus went into a panic and went and got him. Marcel and I undid the compulsion. He's back."

"That was really him. And he just walked away from me like I… Like I'm nothing to him."

"Hayley…"

"No. Not nothing. I'm his niece's mother. A member of his family. But, everything else we used to be to each other is gone. He chose her. He remembers me, remembers how he used to love me. And he's going back to her. He's gone, Freya. I've lost him." She put her face in her hands and cried.


	4. Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

_Klaus starts making plans to try to fix the mess that his family has become, and Hayley breaks up with Declan_

**~The Path To Forever~**

Klaus watched Freya respell the stone in Greta's Daylight Ring to work for Hayley. It was oddly quick. "Are you sure that it's done? That it will work for her?"

"This spell was invented by our mother. I got it directly from her own grimoire. And if anyone can get it to work, it's me. I'm sure, Klaus. Thanks for that vote of confidence, though. I really appreciate it."

"I'm sorry. I'm just feeling a bit punchy, is all."

"Yeah, well… Maybe if you had been around a bit more. Hope missed you. So did I."

"Don't Freya. I know how much of this is my fault. I don't need your reminders."

"Sorry. You aren't the only one feeling a bit punchy. Now, I have to go give my best friend a ring that she shouldn't need." And then she was gone, leaving Klaus alone with his thoughts.

His thoughts, and a box. A box that he did not want to open. He stared at it for several minutes, trying to get up the courage to open it. He already knew what was in it. He picked the box up and put his hand on the lid. But, he couldn't bring himself to open it. To face what had been done to Hayley. Because of him. Because one of his many enemies found the two people he cared about that were the most vulnerable.

But, he couldn't run from this, forever. He was going to have to face the price Hayley had paid for being a Mikaelson in everything but name eventually. He took a deep breath and opened the box. And stared at the small patch of skin nestled inside. The crescent moon birthmark that all of Hayley's pack bore.

Had he seen this earlier, he might have let himself be fooled into thinking it might not have actually been Hayley's. But, he had stood behind her today to help Elijah lower her and Greta to the floor. He had seen the angry scar where this birthmark had been.

That might heal, eventually. After all, she was a vampire. Though, the witch who did this to her might also have hexed it to keep it from healing properly. And, even if it healed, what it had stood for was gone, now. And there was no healing that. She would never allow the ritual necessary to unbind her werewolf side.

Though, Klaus might not give her a choice. Somewhere, there had to be a werewolf and vampire who deserved to die to fix Hayley. It was actually a shame that Elijah had already killed Greta. Using her as the vampire in the unbinding ritual to undo what she herself had done would have been quite fitting. Not that he blamed his older brother for wanting the woman who had hurt Hayley dead.

Of course, the other problem with this was the lack of doppelgangers. So, obviously the spell used to unbind Klaus wasn't going to work. It was a shame that Katherine had been killed. She had been human again, after all. It would have been a beautiful irony to have her escape from him five hundred years ago, just to be used in that same ritual to save Hayley.

Then again, they hadn't used doppelganger blood to bind her, so maybe they wouldn't need doppelganger blood to unbind her. He still couldn't be around Hope. And now that Elijah was back, he couldn't stay in New Orleans, either. Somewhere, there had to be a witch who knew how to undo this. He would make it his mission to find them. And, while he was at it, it was past time that more of them besides Freya and Davina looked for a way to get rid of the Hollow so that they could be a family again.

Especially since he wouldn't be surprised if Vincent was sabotaging Freya's efforts as a way to keep the rest of the Mikaelsons away from New Orleans. It was no secret that he hated all of them. Klaus was actually surprised that he tolerated Freya, Hayley, and Hope.

So, while Klaus looked for a way to get Hayley back, he would look for a way to get his family back, too. He was going to make everything right, again. After all, it was mostly his fault that things were such a mess. Maybe it should be up to him to fix it.

But, apparently he had spent way too much time thinking about this. Because Freya and Hayley came in, then. And Hayley looked like she had been crying. Before he could ask her if she was going to be okay, and tell her not to worry because he was going to find a way to fix this, she had stormed off up the stairs. He heard a door slam a minute later. Part of him wondered how it had taken so long. But, that was a question for later. The more pressing concern was why she was slamming doors to begin with.

"Okay, what was that about? I mean, I understand that she's been through Hell. And nobody knows better than I do how much a werewolf binding hurts. But… she seemed mostly fine when I left her and Elijah together. And she's been with Elijah this whole time. I expected her mood to have improved, not gotten worse."

Freya sat down with a sigh. "Our brother is an idiot. That's pretty much the only explanation I can think of, right now. I honestly have no idea what can possibly be going on in that man's head."

Klaus sat down next to his sister and put an arm around her. "Well, nobody knows Elijah better than I do. So, maybe I can help you figure this out."

"He's not coming here. He didn't say as much, but it's pretty obvious. He kissed her on the cheek, told her to be happy and have the life she deserves, and then walked out. He's going back to France. Hayley is sure that he's going back to Antoinette. And… it actually seems that way. But it doesn't make any sense! You didn't see him, Klaus. He stood right there. Not two feet from where we are now. He stood there and he told me that the only times he's ever felt that scared and helpless were when he thought that Hayley was dead or dying. He stood there and told me that he can't go through that again. He obviously still loves her. The panic in his voice and his eyes when he got his memories back and he realized that she was missing… He loves her. So, why is he going back to France? Why did he tell her to be happy like he's not coming back? What the Hell is going on with him?"

Klaus ran a hand over his eyes. "Knowing Elijah, he's probably being a fucking martyr, again. He's blaming himself for everything, and has decided that Hayley deserves better than him. You're right. He's an idiot. And I feel like going back to France and dragging his ass back here and making him talk to her."

"You can't. You know that you can't. It was bad enough the two of you being together before. You did that because you needed his help to find her and get her back. You need to think rationally again. Hope needs you to think rationally. Any talking you do with Elijah needs to be over the phone, now. You know it has to be that way, Klaus."

"I know. I don't like it, but I know. Dammit! I'm going to murder that man, I swear. The look on Hayley's face when she saw him. It was—How he can possibly think that she's better off without him is beyond me. But, that's the only explanation I can think of for him leaving, again. It's probably why he left the first time."

"Great. So, you know him better than anyone. How do we fix this?"

Before Klaus could answer, there was the sound of an unfamiliar voice calling for Hayley. Freya waved her hand, and the box containing the piece of Hayley's skin that had been cut off closed. She put a finger to her lips. "Declan doesn't know that we aren't human," she whispered, so quietly that only a vampire could have heard her.

He wanted to ask who Declan was, but that was going to have to wait, too. Because then this Declan person was in the room with them.

"Where is Hayley?"

"Probably up in her room. Umm… Declan… I'd like you to meet my brother Klaus."

The man—Declan—stared at him for a minute. "You're Hope's father?"

"I am, yes. And you are?"

Declan smirked and pulled a ring box out of his pocket. "I'm Hope's future stepfather. Now, if you'll excuse me. I need to go talk to my girlfriend."

Klaus watched him walk up the stairs, and then turned to Freya. "I'd almost feel sorry for him, if I didn't already dislike him. But, I don't see this going quite the way he expects."

"Yeah… I honestly doubt she would have said yes even before. Now? Elijah may not want her, or at least that's what she thinks. But, he's still back. All of her old feelings just got dredged up a few hours ago. This is not going to go well for poor Declan. It's a shame. I like him. I mean, not enough to be all that happy about him replacing Elijah, but I like him. He's Cami's cousin, by the way."

Klaus laughed. "Hmm… maybe I should tell him that we have more in common than just the fact that we've both slept with Hayley."

Freya stared at him in horror. "Oh, that'll probably go over really well. He already hates you for leaving Hayley to raise Hope alone. Since he obviously doesn't know why. I'm not sure that telling him that you were also banging his cousin will exactly win you any brownie points with him."

"And why should I care about winning brownie points? As I said, I already dislike him. Plus, I'm the Original hybrid. He should be worried about me, not the other way around."

"You, little brother, are hopeless. Don't make things harder for Hayley than they already are. Okay? Be nice to him for her sake? Plus, Hope likes him. It just might break her heart that he's about to be out of our lives. So, you might want to consider that before you go all Klaus Mikaelson on his ass. Especially since his only crime was to be the one to try to put the pieces back together when our idiot brother broke Hayley's heart."

Yes. Their idiot brother. Who certainly had a lot of explaining to do. Klaus might not be able to go to France and get that explanation in person, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to get one. If nothing else he could give Elijah's dagger to one of Hope's hybrids and have them bring his wayward brother home to talk to Hayley. Not that he was about to let anyone else know about that little plan until it was done. Save himself some arguments.

**~The Path To Forever~**

Hayley wasn't in her room. She had gone there, stood in her doorway, and looked inside. Looked at the window she had been standing at when Elijah had told her how frightened he had been when he thought they were about to lose her. At the spot they had stood when she finally got up the courage to do what she had wanted to do at least since he had returned from Davina's attic. She closed her eyes and let the memory of the first time she had felt Elijah's lips on hers wash over her.

But, this room was tainted with other memories, too. She and Elijah may have shared their first kiss here, but they had never been naked together in here. This was the room where she and Jackson had consummated their marriage. It was the bed she had shared with Declan. And she didn't want those memories, right now. She wanted Elijah.

She turned and walked down the hall to Elijah's room. Being in here was painful, but it was a good kind of pain. Though, she couldn't help slamming the door closed behind her as she stepped inside. It was a small act of defiance, better suited to her teenage daughter than to the mother and werewolf queen she was supposed to be, but she needed to express her frustration somehow.

She stripped down to her underwear, and then went to the closet and pulled out one of Elijah's shirts and put it on. After seven years, even her senses couldn't pick up his scent, but that was easily fixed. She grabbed his bottle of cologne and sprayed it on his pillow. It wasn't perfect, as a wolf—and then a hybrid—Hayley had always been able to pick up more than just the cologne. There was no way to duplicate the natural scent of Elijah that had always been there underneath the soap, the aftershave, the cologne. But, it was better than nothing. She laid down on Elijah's bed, hugged his pillow to herself and cried herself to sleep.

She woke up to the sound of Declan calling her name. She jumped out of Elijah's bed and walked out into the hallway. Part of her realized how this had to look—her coming out of a room that wasn't her own, wearing nothing but a man's shirt, her hair probably a mess. And he had probably met Klaus. He didn't know about Elijah. Not really. He knew that she had an ex who had broken her heart and abandoned her. And he knew that that ex was Freya's brother. But, they had never clarified _which _brother. She was pretty sure that he had naturally assumed it was Klaus. After all, he was Hope's father, who wasn't around at all.

He was staring at her. She closed her eyes against the pain in his. Though, she knew that she was going to have to cause him even more pain. She was going to have to break up with him. It wasn't fair to him to keep trying to use him as a substitute for Elijah. No, Elijah didn't want her, anymore. But, that didn't make it right for her to keep Declan around as her consolation prize. But, just because she was going to have to break his heart didn't mean that she had to let him think she had cheated on him, too. "This… it isn't what it looks like."

To her surprise, he nodded. "I'd like to think that Freya would have warned me about what I might find up here if you had spent the time I was gone in your ex's bed."

Her heart clenched at the unintended accuracy in his words. The truth was that she _had _spent the past hour or so in her ex's bed. She had just been there alone. "I've just had a really long couple of days, and this helps. I wish I could explain it better."

"Yeah." There was understanding in his eyes, but sadness, too. Then again, how could she blame him. He probably realized what was coming. After all, she had just admitted that when she was feeling down, she went into a room other than the one she shared with him. She put on a man's shirt that wasn't his. It wasn't him that she did her best to feel close to.

He looked down. "I… I was going to…" He closed his eyes. And then he pulled a ring box out of his pocket. "I had gone back to Dublin to get my grandmother's engagement ring."

She put her hand to her mouth. "Declan, I… I don't know what to say."

"Just tell me one thing. Is this because of Klaus? Because he's back? After everything he did to you…"

Hayley closed her eyes. "It was never about Klaus. Hope was conceived in a drunken one night stand. This… this is about Elijah. Klaus's brother."

He blinked at her. "The ex that you were so hung up on is Hope's uncle?"

"God! When you put it like that, you make it sound so sordid. But, yes. I… I came to New Orleans to try to find my family. Instead, I found Hope's family. I found Elijah. And I fell in love with him. And then he left. He had to, really. It's too complicated to explain. But, he had to leave. They all did. But, Elijah… when he left, he took my heart with him. And, then I met you. And I thought that I could… not forget, because you don't forget something like that. Like what we had together. But, I thought that I could move on. I knew I would never love you the way I loved him. You only fall in love for the first time once. You know? But, I thought that I could love you enough. I really did think I could. And, a part of me did love you. Does love you. But, just…"

"Just not enough."

"Elijah's back. We aren't back together. I don't think that will ever happen. But, he's back. I can't explain what that means, or where he was. But… I saw him, today. I saw him, and the past seven years just melted away. I saw him, and I realized that I could never love anyone else. Not enough. Not enough to ask him to spend his life married to someone who would always be wishing that he was someone else. Because it's always going to be Elijah. And I'm sorry, Declan. I am so sorry. I wish I had realized sooner. I just need you to know that I didn't mean to lead you on. I really did think I could come to love you enough. And I'm so sorry." And then she burst into tears.

"He's an idiot. Any man that would willingly walk away from you is an idiot. And the truth is, that this would actually be easier if you were back with him. At least then I could console myself that at least you were happy. But knowing that you're walking away for a memory… I understand, Hayley. I think a part of me always knew it would come to this. Even as I went to Ireland to get this ring, there was a part of me that knew that you would never wear it. But, I had to try. I would have gladly spent my life with you, even knowing that you wished I was him. I guess I'm just that much of a martyr. Do me a favor?"

"What?"

"Don't keep me from Hope?"

Hayley gave a humorless laugh. "She's fifteen. And she inherited her grandmother's… stubbornness. I couldn't keep you from her if I wanted to. And, honestly, I'm glad that you don't want to cut her out of your life, too. She loves you, you know."

"Yeah, I know. I just wish that her mother did, too. Be happy, Hayley. Go find this guy, tell him how you feel. Don't give up without a fight."

"We'll see. Maybe I will. Eventually. Not right now, though. I have a lot of things I need to process, first."

He shook his head. "It's kind of ironic, really."

"What is?"

"Me giving you advice I have no intention of taking, myself. I'm not going to fight for you, Hayley. Not because I don't love you, but because I do. You know the saying, right? I'm letting you go. And I know you won't come back. I know that you were never really mine. I guess I always did." He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "Be happy, Hayley. I mean it. Fix this."

She smiled. "Thank you. And I really am sorry."

He just nodded and walked down the stairs, leaving her alone with her thoughts—and Elijah's ghost.

**~The Path To Forever~**

"Your brother is an idiot."

"Tell me something I don't know. What happened?"

Declan scoffed. "What happened is that I'm stupid. I went up there to propose. To a woman who was trying to figure out how to break up with me. Because your brother is an idiot."

"Yes, well. I would apologize, but… those two have been circling around each other for sixteen years. It was always going to be Hayley and Elijah in the end. I don't think that even death can ever truly tear them apart. They're soulmates. They were destined for each other. And that was written in the stars a very long time ago."

Freya laughed. "I never pegged you as a hopeless romantic, little brother."

"Oh, I have my moments. Declan, I'm not going to pretend to be sorry when I'm not. As I said, Hayley has always been destined for Elijah. But, that doesn't mean that I am totally without manners. I have some excellent scotch in the cellar if you need a drink or ten."

"Maybe another time. But, right now, drinking with the brother of the man who stole my girl doesn't sound like my idea of a good time. I really don't need to listen to your talk of soulmates and destiny right now. Not while I'm still trying to pick up the pieces of my broken heart. But, give me a few days, and I might take you up on it."

"Well, unfortunately, I'll be leaving town again, soon. It was nice meeting you, Declan. Sorry things didn't go the way you wanted them to."

When Declan left, Freya turned to look at Klaus. "Are you really leaving? You don't have to. Hope is away at school, and with Elijah back in France, there's no real reason you can't stay for a while. I've missed you, brother."

"Unfortunately, I do have to leave. But, this won't be like last time. I'll keep in touch. And I'll call Hope, fix things with her. But, I have things I need to do."

"Like what?"

"Like finding a way to undo what was done to Hayley. For starters." He stood up. "But, before I leave, I should probably go have a little chat with Hayley."

**~The Path To Forever~**

Hayley went back into Elijah's room after her confrontation with Declan. After breaking the heart of a man whose only crime was loving her and trying to help her move on from a man who meant more to her than he could have possibly realized, she needed to feel close to Elijah more than ever. Plus, she could hardly go into her own room after that.

It was only a few minutes before she wasn't alone. She looked up when she heard the door open, to find Klaus standing there, looking at her. She gave him a sad smile. "I'm guessing you heard."

"I did, Little Wolf." Hayley winced at that, and Klaus shook his head. "Sorry, but that will always be your nickname. Like I said earlier, you will always be my little wolf. You might as well get used to that."

"At this point, I really don't even know what hurts the most. I…" She closed her eyes, trying to get her brain to function enough to form coherent sentences. "I lost so much, today, Klaus. I lost being a wolf. I lost Elijah. I lost the damn fairy tale I'd been living in for the past seven years. No, not for the past seven years. The past sixteen years. The fairy tale I've been living in from the moment I laid eyes on him."

"You want to tell me about this fairy tale of yours?"

Hayley gave a humorless laugh. "Oh, you know the one. Girl meets boy. Girl and boy fight dragons together. And then they live happily ever after. I mean, the past seven years added a fun twist to it. Boy gets amnesia. Girl finds boy wandering lost in the woods. Boy falls in love with girl all over again. They live happily ever after. I just wanted my happily ever after, Klaus. Was that really so much to ask? Don't I deserve that?"

Klaus sighed and walked the rest of the way into the room to sit next to her on Elijah's bed. "Of course you do. You deserve that more than almost anybody I know. And you deserve it with Elijah. The two of you have been through so much. You do deserve that. Something is going on with him, Hayley. I really don't think his leaving again is because of Antoinette. I think it's just Elijah being Elijah. We'll fix this. You'll see. I can't go to him again. I've already risked far too much, and we're lucky that that didn't blow up in our faces. But, I have his phone number, now. I'll make him talk to me. I'll fix this for you. I promise."

"Don't bother. I don't want anybody forcing him… If he doesn't want to be with me anymore, then that's that. I want him to be happy, too. And, I guess that what happened in Freya's pendant and… what happened after Freya's pendant… I guess that was just too much for him. I guess I found the one thing that Elijah can never forgive me for. And I can hardly blame him. I was such a bitch to him. Over something that wasn't even really him. I pushed him away, threw away everything we had, the future we had planned together, over who he had been a thousand years ago. And I don't blame him for hating me for that. I hate me, too."

And then Klaus's arms were around her. "Hayley don't. Elijah doesn't hate you. He loves you. He has always loved you. I don't know what's going on with him, but this is not about him not loving you. You have to believe that. He loves you. If you don't believe me, then ask Freya. Ask her what he said when he got his memories back. Ask her how he reacted to seeing…" He trailed off then, but his fingers brushed against her scar, and she knew what he wasn't saying.

"They sent my birthmark here?"

He nodded against her head. "They did. Had it delivered to Freya. I've seen it. And so has Elijah. And he kind of lost it. You saw him, today, Hayley. The man is a thousand years old, and I can probably count on my fingers the number of times he has acted without thinking. Today, when he saw you, was one of those times. He loves you, Hayley. Whatever may be going on in his head, right now, never doubt that he loves you."

She just nodded and held onto him. And cried. She wasn't sure if she was crying for herself, or for the future that she still didn't believe she would ever have. Or if she was really crying for Elijah. For whatever pain he was in, right now. But, she had one tiny scrap of hope. Klaus was the least tactful person she knew. She couldn't imagine him just telling her what she wanted to hear if he didn't truly believe it, himself. And so she clung to his words like a liferaft, and prayed that somehow, everything would be okay and Elijah would come back to her.


	5. Sometimes Breaking Up Is Easy

_Elijah goes back to France to discover that Antoinette was fully prepared for what he came to tell her. And he can't help but question some of her motives._

**~The Path To forever~**

The last thing Elijah expected was to have Antoinette's bartender call him over to the bar the minute he walked into the building. No, scratch that. That was the second to last thing he expected. The actual last thing he ever expected was to be called by name.

"Welcome back, Mr Mikaelson. Miss Sienna told me to give this to you when you came in." He held out an envelope addressed to him in Antoinette's handwriting.

Mr Mikaelson. The bartender knew his real name. That was certainly interesting. Elijah took the envelope and went up to the apartment he shared with Antoinette. He would pack up his things, and then, if Antoinette wasn't back yet, he would read his letter and write one to her. He hoped it wouldn't come to that. While there were certain issues with their relationship now that he had his memories back, he still thought he owed it to her to break up with her in person.

Except, when he got upstairs, something wasn't right. He looked around, trying to figure out what it was. And then it hit him. His things were all still there, as were some of the things they had bought together, or that belonged to the apartment, rather than to either of them—but all of Antoinette's things seemed to be gone. He walked into their bedroom, where it became even more obvious. Her clothes were all gone, too. It seemed that he was going to be spared from having to break up with her, by her breaking up with him, first.

He sat on the edge of the bed and opened the letter and started reading.

Elijah,

I know how this is going to go. So, I'm making a preemptive strike. The seven years you and I spent together can't begin to compare with the thousand years you had with your siblings. And, maybe you could have had both, if it was just about them. But, it's not. I can't compete with her. I know that. If Elijah Mikaelson is back, then he's also back with Hayley Marshall.

Yes, I knew about her. I admit that my mother kept tabs on your family, a bit. And, I suppose that I should also explain my part in that. Because I need you to understand. I suppose you remember meeting me, before, now. So, you know that I knew who you were from the moment we met. I need you to understand, though, that there was never anything malicious in my intentions towards you. When I first saw you, I honestly thought that you might have been there to finish what your brother had started all those years ago. But then you were acting very strangely. I realized quite quickly that something was wrong. That you didn't seem to know who you were. Which you later confirmed.

I didn't keep the fact that I knew you, and your history, from you out of malice, Elijah. I did it because I didn't know what had happened to you to make you forget. I didn't have any idea what could possibly give an original amnesia like that. I assumed it had to have been an extremely powerful witch. I was honestly afraid of what trying to get you remember could do. So, I kept quiet. Kept your true identity from you.

And I fell in love with the man you had become without your memory of your past and your family. Though, to be fair, I had always had a crush on Elijah Mikaelson, too. And, if it was just about you, and your family, I would have stayed. Would have seen if Elijah Mikaelson could have still loved me as much as Elijah Smith had. But, it wasn't just about your siblings.

I know, Elijah. I know that you came here to break up with me. To tell me that you're going back to her. And it's okay. I understand. But, know that I do love you.

So, here's how this is going to work. I'm moving out. I've left the bar to you. You can keep it, you can sell it, you can burn it to the ground. Whatever makes the most sense to you. And I won't change my phone number or completely ghost you. If you ever need anything, let me know.

But, I couldn't stand here, and look in your eyes while you told me that it was over. I can try to pass it off as trying to spare you from having to say the words. And that is part of it. But, I also admit to being a coward. To not want to have to see you again.

Anyway… Be happy, Elijah. She's a very lucky woman. I hope she knows that. I love you. Goodbye.

Antoinette.

He stared at the letter for several minutes. Part of him was actually glad for it. Glad that he had been spared having to tell her that he was breaking up with her. Especially considering that he wasn't even leaving her for Hayley, but for a memory. But, he knew that he couldn't stay with her, even if Hayley was forever lost to him. It wasn't fair to either of them.

And then something she said percolated through his brain. She knew. She knew that Greta had been keeping tabs on them. She knew about Hayley, and about Hope. It made him wonder if she also knew what Greta had been planning. If she had been a part of that. It would make a sick kind of sense from her perspective. Get rid of Hayley. Get rid of the one person that could have made Elijah completely walk away from her.

Because, she was right. If it was just about his siblings, he could have tried to have both. It was his feelings for Hayley that made staying with Antoinette untenable. She could compete with his siblings, and have a reasonable chance of at least having a draw. But there was no competing with Hayley.

He picked up his phone and called her.

"Elijah… I wasn't expecting to hear from you this soon. I… I thought you would still be in New Orleans."

"I came back to break up with you. I'm not going to lie. You were right about that. But, there's something I need to know, Antoinette."

"What is that?"

"How much did you know?"

"I don't… I don't know what you mean…"

"Your mother is dead. I ripped her daylight ring off and threw her outside. I did this after Niklaus and I managed to get her hand out from around Hayley's heart. Marcellus then went to Mystic Falls and interrogated your brother."

"Roman? Oh God! Elijah, please. If you ever felt anything about me at all, please don't let your family hurt Roman. He's innocent. His only crime was never really growing up and doing what my mother told him to do. He's a good kid."

Elijah had to smile at that. "I know. That was what Marcellus went there to find out. He can compel even an Original. Gave me amnesia that overrode a thousand years of love and devotion to my family. Made me even forget my soulmate." Okay, that line was unnecessarily harsh, but he couldn't help it, right now. "Compelling total honesty from your brother was no harder for him than it would have been for me. So, we know that your brother is not only innocent, but actually has a crush on my niece. Which is ironic, since he was sent there to spy on her for your mother. But, would you like to know what your mother did?"

"I have a feeling you're going to tell me whether I want to know or not."

"Smart girl. She had a witch cast a spell to bind Hayley's werewolf side. A spell that is quite painful. This was done after she had that same witch cut Hayley's birthmark off and sent it in a box to my sister as a message to Niklaus. She intended to do those some things to Hope. My fifteen year old niece. My only regret where your mother is concerned is that I killed her too quickly. As satisfying as it was to watch her burn, it would have been more fitting to keep her alive and make her be the vampire in the ritual to unbind Hayley. So, I just have one question for you, Antoinette. Did you know what she was up to?"

There was silence on the other end of the phone for several minutes. Elijah was just about to tell her that he was going to take her silence as his answer when she finally spoke. "I knew that she wanted to bind their werewolf side. Roman called me in a panic, trying to figure out what to do. He didn't want to see Hope hurt, but he couldn't disobey our mother. She… I'm sure your friend Marcellus has figured out the kind of hold that she had over him. I… told him to sit tight. To protect Hope as best he could, and I would try to figure out something to do from my end. I actually thought of calling you, telling you where they were in exchange for your word that you wouldn't let Roman be hurt."

"And why didn't you?"

"I was scared. I wasn't sure you would listen to. I was afraid that maybe it would actually make things worse for him. And…" She trailed off, then.

But, Elijah wasn't going to just let things go. Not now. Not after everything that had happened. Not after he came dangerously close to watching Hayley die. "And what, Antoinette? Was there maybe a part of you hoping that Hayley would die? A part that realized that you could never compete with her if she was alive, but maybe you could compete with her ghost?"

"That's not fair, Elijah!"

"Hayley almost died, Antoinette. Your mother almost killed her. Because binding her never would have been enough. Killing her—killing both of them—was always the real plan. If you don't care for either of their sakes, or for mine, consider that she planned on making Roman watch her kill Hope."

"Oh my God! You don't… you can't honestly think that was her real plan, can you? Elijah, I swear. I… If I had even suspected it would go that far, I never would have… I wouldn't have hesitated. I would have told you everything I knew. I swear. I may not care for Hayley Marshall, and may wish that you had spent the rest of eternity never remembering how you used to love her, but I didn't want her dead. And your brother… After he spared me and Roman, I wouldn't have paid him back by helping my mother murder his daughter. You have to believe me. I can come home. You can drain me, compel me to tell you the truth. Just tell me what you need from me to get you to believe me."

Elijah ran a hand over his eyes. "I can't deal with you, right now. And the last thing I want is to actually see you. But, I may end up sending Rebekah, Kol, or Marcellus to talk to you."

"Of course. And thank you for not including Klaus in that."

"I'm pissed at you. I'm not going to lie about that. But, I did love you. And a part of me still does. It's not enough to compete with my feelings for Hayley, but it's enough for me to not want you dead. I'll be in touch, Antoinette." He ended the call and sat on the edge of the bed, staring into space. He really was going to have to send someone to talk to Antoinette. He wasn't looking forward to that, but he owed it to Hayley to make sure that everyone who was directly involved in what happened to her was properly dealt with. And if that meant having the woman he had spent the past seven years with killed, then that was what he was going to do. Because Hayley and Hope deserved to not have to be constantly looking over their shoulders, waiting for another enemy to come try to take them out. It was bad enough that there were always going to be people willing to use them to hurt him or Niklaus.

His phone rang, then. He glanced at the screen, but didn't recognize the number. Not that that was particularly surprising. After all, he ran away from Hayley before he had a chance to get phone numbers for any of his family other than Niklaus. He sighed as he wondered which of his siblings he was about to get yelled at by, and then accepted the call. "Hello?"

"Have you lost your bloody mind? Where are you?"

"Hello, Rebekah. It's good to hear from you." Granted, judging by how she started the conversation, that was probably going to turn out to be a lie, but it didn't hurt to be civil for as long as she let him.


	6. Not Just A Mikaelson

_When Rebekah and Hope find out what really happened between Hayley and Elijah in that farmhouse, Hope decides she needs to grow up and fix this. But, are the Mikaelsons prepared for watching Hope embrace the other half of her birthright?_

**~The Path To Forever~**

"Yes, Elijah. It's good to _finally_ hear from you, too." Elijah winced at that, but his baby sister wasn't quite through with him, yet. "Now then. Are you going to answer my questions?"

"I'm in Manosque. There's a bar that my fiancee owned. She's gone, left the bar to me. She didn't want to have to try to compete with Hayley. But, speaking of her—"

"No. You don't get to change the subject. There is absolutely nothing you can possibly have to say about her that is so important that it can't wait until we've finished our chat. What is going on with you, anyway?"

Elijah rolled his eyes. "You know what? We're not going to talk about that, right now. Because it seems that I have lost time to make up for with you. Apparently, while I was gone, you decided to throw everything you've ever wanted away. For no reason that can possibly make sense."

Rebekah scoffed. "No, Elijah. We are not talking about me, right now. You want to talk about throwing away a future? What about you? Hayley came to you, said you needed to talk, told you she loves you. And what was your response to that? You went and gave yourself magical amnesia and walked out of all of our lives without even saying goodbye. I had to hear from Marcel that my brother was gone. Hayley and Freya had to hear it from Vincent. From _Vincent_! You didn't even have the decency to actually say goodbye. To anybody. I can't even forgive you for me. But for her? You just threw her away like she didn't mean anything to you! Do you have any idea what that did to her? Do you have any idea how long it was before she could even bring herself to say your name? Do you know that she still has trouble saying your name, sometimes?"

Elijah wiped at the tears rolling down his face. "She's better off without me. You know that she is. Maybe there had been a time… but after what I did to her in Freya's pendant…"

"Oh, bloody Hell! You weren't yourself, Elijah. That wasn't you. And she knew that. There was… there was a lot going on, and it took her a while. She was scared. Not of you, not really. She was scared of everything going on around her. And, you want the truth? This time, Hope wasn't in danger because she was a Mikaelson. This time it was because she was a Labonair. Suddenly, there was somebody who wanted her daughter dead because of _her._ And I don't think she knew how to deal with that. So, she lashed out at you, because she needed somebody to blame. I'm not saying it makes sense. She's never blamed any of us when it actually _was_ our fault, not really. But when it was her fault… she needed somebody to blame."

"It doesn't matter anymore. None of it matters, anymore. Whether she was better off without me before or not, she certainly is now. I'm nothing more than a reminder. And, she's moved on. And I need to let her. But, that doesn't mean that I'm ready to watch it."

"What are you even talking about, now?"

"Don't, Rebekah. It's okay. I know. I know that Hayley and Niklaus are together, now. And I'm trying to be okay with it. But, I'm not ready to deal with either of them. I'm not ready for them to come out and tell me."

There was silence on the other end of the phone for so long that Elijah pulled the phone from his ear and looked at it to make sure the call hadn't been dropped. "Rebekah? Talk to me, sister."

"You are a bloody fool, Elijah. But, how?"

"How do I know? Stupid little things, that maybe wouldn't have seemed like a big deal, but… you know that her werewolf side was bound, I take it?"

"Yes, I know."

"Well, you know how he was always calling her Little Wolf?"

"Yes. What's your point?"

"When we rescued her, he didn't just call her 'Little Wolf'. He called her 'my Little Wolf'. After she commented on not being his little wolf anymore."

"So, it's the possessives in that that have you—"

"Not entirely. When I told her that I knew what he had been up to while I was gone, her reaction… She kind of jumped. And almost looked guilty. And then, a bit later, she told me that she needed to tell me something. And I could tell from the look on her face and the tone of her voice that it was going to be something I didn't want to hear."

"And so, you cut her off so you wouldn't have to hear her say the words. You know what? I can't deal with you, right now. I'm going to let you go for now. You have my number, now. Call me."

"Wait! Before you go, I need you to do something for me. I'm going to give you Antoinette's phone number. I need you to find out where she is, and then do to her what Marcellus did to Roman. I need to make sure it's really safe leaving her alive. She sounded genuinely remorseful when I told her what her mother was planning, but I need to be sure. For Hayley and Hope's sakes I need to be sure."

"Yeah, fine. Give me her number. I'll deal with this for you. I guess it's my turn to clean up the Mikaelson messes, huh? Only fair, really. You've been doing it for so long, it's about time somebody else picked up the slack."

He gave her the number and then the phone went dead. He just stared at it. Something wasn't making sense. Why did Rebekah sound surprised to hear that Hayley was dating Niklaus? Why would they keep it from her? Or had they simply been worried that she would be angry on his behalf? Then again, who knows what Rebekah's reaction was really all about? She could have been simply wishing that he would fight for Hayley. And never mind that he'd be fighting his own brother. But, why the hopeless romantic in her wasn't happy that Niklaus had found someone actually made no sense.

**~The Path To Forever~**

Rebekah ended the call with Elijah, and stared at the phone number he had given her. She was going to have to take care of that. And soon. But first, there was something else she needed to deal with. Specifically, his asinine theory that Hayley was dating Nik. And of all the things to make him think that… He made no sense, sometimes.

She sighed. But, she didn't call this Antoinette person. Instead, she called the one person who would know if Elijah's theory was correct, that wasn't actually a part of that theory. She couldn't say anything to either of them. Nik would throw caution to the wind and go to France to deal with Elijah personally. And Hayley… This just might break Hayley's heart all over again, to know how badly Elijah was hurting.

"Hey, Aunt Bekah! What's going on?"

"So, I have a question for you. Are your parents dating?"

There was silence for a minute. And then gales of laughter. "You can't be serious."

"Oh, I am very serious, baby girl. Are they?"

"Umm… no. If they were, none of the crap that happened over the past week or two would have happened."

Rebekah frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that until mom was kidnapped, I hadn't spoken to my father in almost seven years. It wasn't all that much after the last time I talked to him, that he stopped taking Mom's calls, too. The whole reason I had Henry kidnap her for me was to force Dad to come talk to me. Everything that happened after that, was because of what I did. Stupid impulsive teenager that I am."

"Bloody Hell…"

"Aunt Bekah? What's going on? Why did you think they were dating?"

"I didn't, really. But, your uncle Elijah does."

"Uncle Elijah thinks my parents are dating? Well, that explains why he ran away the way he did. If he could see Mom, now… But, what in the world gave him that idea?"

"Stupid things, that if he was thinking clearly, he would realize didn't necessarily mean what he thought they meant."

Hope started laughing. "Why did you even ask me about it? I mean, you know that Mom had a boyfriend, right?"

Rebekah groaned. "Declan. That was what she had tried to tell him about. But, he thought she was going to tell him that she was dating Nik. The bloody idiot!"

"All right. Well, now we know what the problem is. Time for me to figure out a way to fix it. Don't worry. I _will_ fix this. They deserve to be happy. I'll figure something out."

And then she was gone. Rebekah sighed for a minute. And then she called the number Elijah had given her. While Hope was fixing her siblings' love lives, she was going to start dealing with the rest of their problems. Not that she was really looking forward to this in the slightest.

**~The Path To Forever~**

Hope put her phone down with a sigh. Why were grown-ups such idiots, anyway? And how her Uncle Elijah was the worst of the bunch was really beyond her. He was a thousand years old. You would think that he would have acquired common sense somewhere along the way. But, he was worse than she was.

But, the other question was, how to get him to listen? There were really only two people that he would listen to about this. And they were the two people that couldn't be told about it, right now. Her dad would go and do something stupid. And her mom was hurting enough without adding Uncle Elijah's pain to it. No, she was going to have to get creative.

And then she realized that there was a third person he might listen to about this. But, before she could ask that third person to help her with this, she needed to be able to explain what had really happened. And maybe it wouldn't be a great idea to do that without even telling anybody that she was going to. The last time she had acted impulsively, it had nearly gotten her mother killed. It was time she grew up. But, she needed time to prepare her arguments. It could wait until the morning.

**~The Path To Forever~**

Hope pulled her laptop out, opened Skype, and started a group chat. Within minutes, her entire family except her parents and Uncle Elijah were staring at her from her screen. She had even included Josh and Vincent. Which, to be fair, considering what she was about to suggest, she kind of needed them to be included.

"All right, baby girl. What are you up to?"

"What makes you think I'm up to something?"

"You're a Mikaelson, of course you're up to something. I recognize that particular glint in your eyes. It is one hundred percent your father."

"Okay, so I've been thinking. And New Orleans has been remarkably quiet for a while, now. But, we all know that that's going to be changing. Greta wasn't alone. Her people are still out there. And, eventually they're going to recoup. And when they do, they're going to be coming for us. For all of us."

"And we'll deal with it. Are you worried?"

"Actually, I'm not. I say let them bring it. We can show them that they messed with the wrong family when they came after us. But, the New Orleans council isn't really complete. And, that was fine, before. You were keeping the peace just fine. But, that's the thing. It was peaceful. It's not going to be peaceful for much longer. Greta's cult is not going to just go quietly into the night now that she's dead. If anything, they're going to want revenge. This isn't going to just go away. They are going to come for us."

"Which is a matter for the council, Hope. It doesn't concern you. And it certainly doesn't concern Marcel, Rebekah, Kol, or Davina. And where is your mother? Shouldn't she be included in this conversation?"

Hope scoffed. "Doesn't it concern me? This is my city, too. It's my home. Not to mention the fact that I'm the one they most want dead. So, explain to me again, Vincent, how this doesn't concern me? But, what I'm about to say, isn't just a city thing. It's also a family thing."

"And where is your mother?"

She ignored him and continued. "Now, we have a lot going for us. Speed, strength, magic. The wolves have a bite that is deadly to vampires. If we have to take the city back from Greta's people by force, we can. But, I can't help worrying that they may have numbers on their side. But, what if they didn't? What if we utilized the largest faction in the city? What if we had the humans working for us? Obviously, most of them really couldn't. But, even without having all of their numbers working for us, they can still do things that we really can't. They can be places we can't. And they can keep guard, even if they don't understand what it is that they're guarding, or guarding against. It's past time that the human faction had a representative on the council, again. And, we actually have the perfect person."

"Absolutely not!"

"You haven't even really heard me out. You don't know who I'm going to suggest."

"I don't need to know who you're going to suggest. We don't need a human on the council. You're being ridiculous."

"Or maybe you don't care if the Mikaelsons all die. She was going to kill me and my mom, Vincent. Both of us. And maybe the humans couldn't have done anything about that. But having a few thousand extra pairs of eyes and ears couldn't hurt. Even if most of them don't actually know what they're watching out for."

"Hope! That isn't fair. Of course Vincent cares about our family."

"I'm sorry, Aunt Freya. But, right now I'm having a hard time believing that. But, that's not what's important, here. What's important, right now, is what we're going to do to protect ourselves. Not just ourselves, but the city. Because there is a group of vampires out there that seem to want to turn New Orleans into some supernatural version of Nazi Germany. Stopping them needs to be our priority And, right now the council isn't complete. We need a human. And, that human should be Declan. After all, he's an O'Connell. He's Father Kieran's nephew. This city is as much his birthright as it is mine or Vincent's. I say that it's past time we tell him the truth about what has been going on around here, and let him take his rightful place on the city council."

**~The Path To Forever~**

Marcel listened to Hope in awe. Vincent seemed pissed, not that Marcel really cared. And he couldn't help wondering what Hayley would say to all of this. But, there was one person that he knew damn well would be proud as Hell. A man that none of the others had ever met. The glint in her eyes when he first got onto the chat may have been all Klaus, but the speech she was giving was one hundred percent Victor Labonair.

Eventually, she exited the chat, but he had a feeling that this wasn't actually over. This wasn't a council meeting. She wasn't putting anything to a vote. This was her informing them of her intentions. He wondered if anybody else realized that.

"Well, there is no denying that that girl is a Mikaelson."

"Nah, Kol. That's not a Mikaelson."

"Really, Marcel? I think it may be a little late to try to claim that she's not a Mikaelson. I mean, between Aunt Dahlia and the Hollow, there is no doubt that she's Nik's daughter."

"Oh, I'm not denying that. You just seem to forget that she has two parents. That wasn't Klaus's blood. It was Hayley's. That speech wasn't coming from a Mikaelson. That was all Labonair."

They were all staring at him, looking confused, and he sighed. "Ladies and gentlemen, we just met the future Alpha of the Crescent wolves. And, you know what? I think they're going to be in good hands. She's going to formidable. Be prepared."

His phone rang, then. He glanced at it and smiled. Speak of the Devil. "Well, I need to take this. I'll talk to all of you, later." He closed out of the chat and answered the phone. "Hey there, baby girl. That was quite a speech you just gave. Your grandfather would be proud."

"Fuck him."

"I'm not talking about Mikael. You have two grandfathers. Actually, you have three grandfathers. But, I was referring to your maternal grandfather."

"I keep forgetting that you're the one that saved my mom, and that you knew her parents. You really think they'd be proud of me?"

"So proud. But, I don't think you called to talk about them. What's up?"

"Uncle Elijah is being an idiot. And I have an idea for how to fix this. But, I need your help first."

It took her ten minutes to explain her plan, and his part in it. He had to laugh at her using her father's own lack of foresight against him. It was a good plan. Most of the others would be pissed, but he was going to put his money on the winning horse. Besides, she was right. Something needed to be done. And this actually made as much sense as anything a Mikaelson could possibly come up with. And her reasons for why she thought it was the best solution were also sound.

"Yeah. All right. Let's do this. I'll call you when everything is ready on my end. Here's hoping it works. Somebody in this damn family deserves to be happy."

"Maybe I'll deal with Aunt Bekah once I've fixed my mom and Uncle Elijah. But, I need to put the other half of my plan into motion. This should be fun. I'll talk to you later."

He ended the call, and then he laughed out loud. Oh yes, the others were going to be pissed. But, Victor would be proud. And when this worked, they'd all be thanking her.


End file.
